His actions, which were broadcast on a video feed, forced the judges to temporarily suspend the hearing. Paramedics were seen entering the courtroom.

The hearing resumed a few hours later, with presiding judge Carmel Aguis saying: "Courtroom one is now a crime scene."

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The moment war criminal swallowed poison

The 72-year-old was convicted in 2013 of crimes including murder, persecution and deportation for his role in the attempt to create a Bosnian Croat mini-state in Bosnia in the early 1990s during the break-up of Yugoslavia.

Prosecutors said in a statement that Praljak had a "concentration of potassium cyanide in his blood".